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The Dustin J Wells Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

The Dustin J Wells Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$6k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$6k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$177kHealth$88kEducation$39kHousing & Shelter$10kHuman Services$6kFood & Nutrition$5kYouth Development$5kReligion$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$6,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$15k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAMBSCROFT MINISTRIES$6,000
NEW HOPE ACADEMY$125
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–17, $500) land where the poverty rate runs at 4%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GRACE WORKS MINISTRIES INC: $500 → 4%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$280k · 5 repeat orgs$62k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
15

Total granted

$280k
$62k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+59%

Still filing today

80%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesReligionHousing & ShelterOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • WS
    WO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL
    2× · 2017–2020 · $175k · revenue +40%
  • SH
    SCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2017–2020 · $85k · revenue +5%
  • NH
    NEW HOPE ACADEMY
    2× · 2018–2025 · $1k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • BA
    BRENTWOOD ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +36%
  • Harding University Inc
    one grant, 2018 · $15k · revenue -12%
  • FA
    Feed America First
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
2
Houston Christian University

The mission of houston christian university is to provide a learning experience that instills in students a passion for academic, spiritual, and professional excellence as a result of our central confession, "jesus christ is lord."

—
3
247 Media Ministries

The mission of worship 24/7 is to ignite a passion for god through worship that results in a life of generosity, discipleship, evangelism, generosity and service.

Religion
4
Westminster Academy

The school provides classical christian education to students in grades junior kindergarten through twelve.

Education
5
Christian Healthcare Ministries Inc

To glorify god, show christian love, and experience god's presence as christians share each other's medical bills.

Religion
6
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
7
Harding Academy of Memphis Inc

Harding academy of memphis, inc. is a private school providing education from pre kindergarten through grade twelve.

Education
8
Artists in Christian Testimony Inc

Communicate gospel by music and art

Religion
9
Barclay College

The mission of barclay college is to prepare students in a bible-centered environment for effective christian life, service, and leadership.

Education
10
Evangel University

Evangel is a comprehensive christian university that is committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to become spirit empowered servants of god who will impact the church and society globally.

Education
11
Dunwoody College of Technology

Dunwoody college changes lives by building opportunities for graduates to have successful careers, to develop into leaders and entrepreneurs, and to engage in "the better performance of life's duties." quote is from the last will and…

Education
12
Christwood Foundation

To solicit, receive, manage and administer gifts for the benefit and purposes of christwood.

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc; the most unlike its peers is Music & Memory Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

14 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 14 of the 21 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
10/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $175,000 · Arts & CultureWO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL+1 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC: $85,325 · HealthSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDAT…+1 more: $500 · HealthHarding University Inc: $15,000 · OtherHarding Univ…Feed America First: $5,000 · OtherFeed America…My People Senior Activity Center: $5,000 · OtherMy People Se…Folds of Honor: $5,000 · OtherFolds of Hon…MARGARET DANIEL EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $2,600 · OtherMARGARET DAN…+5 more: $4,000 · Other+5 moreBRENTWOOD ACADEMY: $20,000 · EducationTHE LEAP FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationNEW HOPE ACADEMY: $1,325 · EducationLAMBSCROFT MINISTRIES INC DBA THE COOKERY: $16,000 · ReligionGRACEWORKS MINISTRIES INC: $500 · Human ServicesTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $500 · PhilanthropyTHE NEXT DOOR INC: $250 · Housing & Shelter
Arts & Culture$177,000Health$85,825Other$36,600Education$26,325Religion$16,000Human Services$500Philanthropy$500Housing & Shelter$250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $175,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC: $85,325 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetBRENTWOOD ACADEMY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLAMBSCROFT MINISTRIES INC DBA THE COOKERY: $16,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE LEAP FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMUSICARES FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW HOPE ACADEMY: $1,325 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DOLLYWOOD FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELI'S HOUSE: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEXT DOOR INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Community Foundat…Servant FoundationRaymond James Charita…Stephens' Christian T…T & T Family Foundati…Dorothy Cate and Thom…American Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee IncTN18.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · Servant Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Stephens' Christian Trust · T & T Family Foundation · Dorothy Cate and Thomas F Frist Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Dustin J Wells Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Dustin J Wells Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Dustin J Wells Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Dustin J Wells Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 21 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
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    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home